I remember that day. When you came back from that meeting you had a hard time summing up the experience. But as inspirational as Mr. Mok was to you at the time I’m pretty sure this (NAPP) was your destiny. One way or another you were bound for greatness. You have always had the gift of looking at the world in a positive way and observing what was cool and popular. That along with the intelligence and boundless energy of teaching yourself PhotoShop (…like the graphic design, typography, piano and countless other things) helped lead you to where you are now as well.

Your meeting with Clement Mok might have been a part of what motivated you to dream big but there are so many more reasons for your success. I believe it was the spark of an idea you had after a MacUser’s meeting were you did a demo of an early version of PhotoShop and realized a need for PhotoShop training. You weren’t selfish with your knowledge, you had a genuine interest in helping other people understand a very deep software package, you were secure enough with your ability and talent to want to help bring others up to your level.

I also think you were smart enough to listen to the wise advice of others such as your wife Kalebra, your brother Jeff, your father Jerry, and your mother Amelia plus the experts you have in your organization now. I believe you will continue to be blessed in your life because you are a good steward of what you have been given and you maintain a humble gratitude to God.

I could go on forever about my thoughts on what brought you this far. I didn’t mean to go on and on but maybe this post will inspire someone else to look to you and others to find their dream and go for it.

I consider myself lucky to have known you.
Thanks,
John Couch

You were also were a big inspiration in my career and the first time I met you back in 2001 helped define a big turning point in my desire to teach the world design and Photoshop. Like you I’m following my dreams to push design training.

Jeremy

Thomas

Your story reminds me of a suggestion I received at a management development program I recently attended. I was in a session on the psychology of happiness and the fact that work is emerging on using the tools of psychology to make happy people happier rather than just using the tools to work with unhappy people, and the leader introduced the concept of a gratitude letter.

I don’t remember all the details, but the idea is that you write someone a gratititude letter - much like your original blog entry above - then mail it to the person and invite them to lunch where you talk about the letter and whatever else is on your mind. Apparently research shows that expressing gratitude can make the ‘expresser’ happier.

As a couple of other commenters have suggested, you should definitely reach out to Clement Mok to express your appreciation for what he did for you.

Andrew

Just wanted to echo everyone’s sentiments - a great success story, thanks for sharing it.

I can relate to it too; I found meeting or getting close to a mentor / or someone I aspired to be - a very exciting and life changing experience.

And I’m sure there are many others today who see you as their Clement Mok.

Prashant.

You have such a great gift of encouragement that really shines through in all of the projects that you are involved in. You will probably never truly realize how many people you have personally encouraged (like Clement Mok encouraged you) through your books, Photoshop User TV, the NAPP Presidency, your training sessions, and your blog. As your graphic design hero did for you, you are doing the same for countless “schmucks” from all over the world. Whether one is learning from you just for a hobby or for use in a photography or graphics design business, you are excellent at conveying a sense of wonderment, fulfillment and joy in creating any piece of “art” using Photoshop and other Adobe software products. I believe that your enthusiasm and drive to keep learning new things daily is contagious and this is why so many people love to learn from you.

I would like to encourage you to try and make contact with Clement Mok so you can share how much that one hour of his time really meant to you before it is too late. Try to fight the feelings of awkwardness today as you did when you mustered the courage to send him that fax back in 1991. I have never met one of my teachers or mentors that has been sorry or upset when I have gone back to them later and thanked them for their part in molding me into the person that I am now!

I joined NAPP in May 07 and immediately signed up for your Lightroom class in Atlanta. I came up to talk to you during a break and I mentioned to you that I was going to be in Tampa in 2 weeks from the training date and asked you about touring NAPP headquarters. You laughed and joked about the fact that there was really “nothing much to see”, but even so I was welcome to drop by and check it out. I did not take you up on your offer while in Tampa, but just your honest and sincere invitation to drop by meant so much to me. Thank you!

Keep up the great inspirational work you are doing for so many people Scott. You never cease to amaze us with your seemingly tireless energy, your great new projects/books and your eager desire to learn more and to pass on your knowledge to each of us.

From a schmuck in Alabama to an ex-schmuck in Tampa!

In brief- I had been working for a major automotive company in Detroit for several years, but my creative department had been dissolved, and I was now struggling to find work. My wife and I had decided that I should go to Florida for a couple weeks to see what would happen there (we’d had a blast at Photoshopworld 2002 in Tampa). Unbeknownst to me, my wife contacted Scott directly, told him of my impending trip south, and inquired if he could take the time to meet me. Scott immediately set an appointment date and time, and my wife passed the info on to me. On the road from Michigan to Florida, I was on cloud 9 to think this very busy man would take the time to meet me- I barely remember the drive down, I was so elated!

When I arrived at the NAPP offices, Scott was very likable and down-to-earth, and put me at ease right away. He took me on a tour of his facilities, and took the time to review my work. He gave me the names of several folks he knew in the industry there in Tampa, and was very encouraging. Even though things didn’t work out in Tampa, I never considered my time there a failure. I had gotten a glimpse of a different way of life in the creative industry. At my previous job, everyone was very reluctant to pass any of their “secrets” on to others. They viciously and jealously guarded their techniques, and were spiteful of anyone who got ahead on their own merit or talent. What always floored me about Scott and his publications- both Photoshop User and Mac Design- was that he was only too happy to share techniques and insights in order to benefit others in their professions. His encouragement inspired me to move to San Antonio, where I took a job as Senior Designer with a major 3D animation software firm. The environment there was exactly how I envisioned Scott’s company being like- very open, very creative, a little crazy, and a whole lot rewarding.

Now, I freelance out of my home full time, and I’m swamped with work and loving it. And it’s all due to Mr. Kelby, who showed me through his seminars, his publications and his personality that real life people can do whatever they want to in life, but the key is to help others by sharing the knowledge you’ve gained, rather than hoarding it for yourself.

Thanks, Scott, for sharing!